Center for Ethics and Writing, Written Arts, Middle Eastern Studies, Human Rights Project, Gender and Sexuality Studies, and the Sociology Program Presents

A Conversation with Yasmin El-Rifae, Author of Radius

Yasmin El-Rifae's Radius (Verso, 2022) is a work of literary nonfiction about the Egyptian feminist group Operation Anti-Sexual Harassment and Assault (Opantish), which fought mass sexual assaults in Tahrir Square during the 2011 Egyptian revolution. In less than a year, the group intervened in hundreds of cases, developed a sophisticated operational structure, and insisted that its work was central to the wider revolutionary effort at the time—despite the initial denial of the violence by many other activists. Based on over twenty interviews and El-Rifae’s own experience, Radius is a record of the messy work of the Opantish collective, and its aftermath as lived by some of its individual members. The book attempts to open up the history of Opantish and connect it with broader discourses about gender, power, selfhood, and self-making through historical ruptures.

Yasmin El-Rifae is a writer, editor, and coproducer of the Palestine Festival of Literature. Her first book, Radius, was published by Verso in 2022. Her work has also appeared in The New York Times, LitHub, Lux magazine and other outlets. She recently moved from Cairo to London. 

Pınar Kemerli is an Assistant Professor at the Politics program, where she teaches political theory, comparative political thought, and Middle East politics.

Read more about Yasmin's work here. 

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For more information, call 845-758-6822, or e-mail [email protected].

Time: 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm EDT/GMT-4

Location: Bertelsmann Campus Center, Weis Cinema

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